Jacopo Ferretti
# Jacopo Ferretti

Jacopo Ferretti (16 July 1784 – 7 March 1852) was an Italian writer, poet and opera librettist. His name is sometimes written as Giacomo Ferretti.

He is most famous for having supplied the libretti for two operas composed by Rossini and for five operas composed by Donizetti.

## Life

Introduced by his father to literature while very young, in addition to his native Italian, Ferretti mastered not only Latin and Ancient Greek but also French and English, and began writing verse early. Even though he worked in the tobacco industry from the age of about 30 until he was over 60, he was extremely prolific, writing "everything from love letter to odes and welcoming speeches", and numerous opera libretti, all but the few listed below being generally forgotten.

His first big success was La Cenerentola, written at great speed for Rossini over Christmas in 1816. Ferretti wrote afterwards how he had agreed to write a libretto on a subject which the censor vetoed, so he met the composer and the theatre manager to discuss alternatives. He struggled to find a new subject that appealed, but about two dozen were rejected for one reason or another. At last, yawning wearily, Ferretti said "La Cenerentola" ("Cinderella") and at last Rossini decided he liked it, so Ferretti went home and began at once, worked night and day on it, and gave sections to Rossini on Christmas Day. Early on during the production there were problems, but Rossini predicted (correctly) that it would be a great success in the long term.

Ferretti married the singer Teresa Terziani in 1820, and their house was continually visited by musicians and poets, including Donizetti who had been given a letter of introduction to Ferretti by Johann Simon Mayr. They became good friends after the young composer's arrival in Rome in October 1821 for the preparation of the production of his Zoraida di Granata, which became his first major success. Ferretti worked on revising Bartolomeo Merelli's libretto for the opera.

## Librettos by Ferretti

Altogether, Ferretti wrote about 70 librettos, the majority of which were for operas presented in Rome.

| Title | Genre | Subdivisions | Music | Première | Place, theatre | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| L'inganno dura poco, ossia Le nozze di don Madrigale | burletta | 2 acts | Cesare Jannoni | 9 September 1807 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| La principessa per ripiego | dramma giocoso | 2 acts | Francesco Morlacchi | 15 April 1809 | Rome, Teatro Valle | Probably after La villanella ingentilita by Francesco Saverio Zini |
| La Didone | dramma serio | 3 acts | Valentino Fioravanti | 9 June 1810 | Rome, Teatro Valle | After Didone abbandonata by Pietro Metastasio |
| Baldovino | dramma serio | | Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli | 1811 | Rome, Teatro Argentina | |
| Il bello piace a tutti | melodramma giocoso | 1 act | Valentino Fioravanti | 1811 | | |
| Berenice regina d'Armenia | dramma per musica | 3 acts | Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli | 12 November 1811 | Rome, Teatro Valle | After Lucio Vero by Apostolo Zeno. As Berenice in Armenia: music by Carlo Evasio Soliva, March 1817, Turin, Teatro Regio |
| Tito in Langres | dramma serio | 2 acts | Antonio del Fante | 4 January 1813 | Rome, Teatro Argentina | |
| Amore assottiglia l'ingegno | dramma buffo | 2 acts | Pietro Carlo Guglielmi | 26 December 1814 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| Rinaldo d'Asti | dramma buffo | 2 acts | Carlo Coccia | 17 February 1816 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| La Cenerentola, ossia La bontà in trionfo | dramma giocoso | 2 acts | Gioachino Rossini | 25 January 1817 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| Polissena | dramma giocoso | 3 acts | Ferdinando Rutini | 11 February 1817 | Rome, Teatro Argentina | |
| Bartolommeo colla Cavalla | melodramma buffo | 2 acts | Antonio Pauselli | Autumn 1817 | Florence, Teatro della Pergola | 1827: Carlo Conti (as L'innocente in periglio); 1836: Paolo Lami; 1838: Massimiliano Quilici |
| Pulcinella impresario | | | Ferdinando Rutini | 1817 | Rome | |
| Scipione in Cartagine | melodramma serio | 2 acts | Saverio Mercadante | 26 December 1820 | Rome, Teatro Argentina | |
| La festa della riconoscenza o sia Il pellegrino bianco | melodramma giocoso | 2 acts | Filippo Grazioli | 25 January 1821 | Rome, Teatro Apollo | |
| Matilde di Shabran, o sia Bellezza, e cuor di ferro | melodramma giocoso | 2 acts | Gioachino Rossini | 24 February 1821 | Rome, Teatro Apollo | |
| La capricciosa ed il soldato | melodramma giocoso | 2 acts | Michele Carafa | 26 December 1821 | Rome, Teatro Apollo | |
| Cesare in Egitto | melodramma eroico | 2 acts | Giovanni Pacini | 26 December 1821 | Rome, Teatro Argentina | |
| Zoraida di Granata | melodramma eroico | 2 acts | Gaetano Donizetti | 28 January 1822 | Rome, Teatro Argentina | Contributed. After Bartolomeo Merelli |
| Amalia e Palmer | melodramma | 2 acts | Filippo Celli | 14 September 1822 | Teatro Argentina | |
| Eufemio di Messina | melodramma eroico | 2 acts | Michele Carafa | 26 December 1822 | Rome, Teatro Argentina | |
| Il corsaro, ovvero Un maestro di cappella al Marocco | melodramma giocoso | 2 acts | Filippo Celli | 26 December 1822 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| Amori ed armi | | 2 acts | Francesco Cianciarelli | Carnival 1823 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| L'ajo nell'imbarazzo, o Don Gregorio | melodramma giocoso | 2 acts | Gaetano Donizetti | 4 February 1824 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| Gli amici di Siracusa | melodramma eroico | 3 acts | Saverio Mercadante | 7 February 1824 | Rome, Teatro Argentina | |
| L'audacia fortunata | dramma giocoso per musica | | Antonio Sapienza | Summer 1824 | Naples, Teatro del Fondo | 1827: Carlo Conti |
| Riccardo l'intrepido | melodramma | 2 acts | Giuseppe Balducci | 9 September 1824 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| La comunità di Castel Formicolone ovvero Le gelosie villane | dramma giocoso | 2 acts | Vittorio Trento | 1824 | | |
| Le civette in apparenza o sia una Lezione ai maldicenti | melodramma | 1 act | Luigi Gambale | 3 June 1826 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| La fedeltà fra i boschi o sia Il taglialegna di Dombar | | | Filippo Grazioli | September 1826 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| Olivo e Pasquale | melodramma giocoso | 2 acts | Gaetano Donizetti | 7 January 1827 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| La sposa persiana | | | Luigi Gambale | 1827 | | |
| La sciocca per astuzia | | | Luigi Gambale | 7 February 1828 | Rome | |
| L'orfanella di Ginevra | melodramma semiserio | 2 acts | Luigi Ricci | 9 September 1829 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| L'eroina del Messico | melodramma serio | 2 acts | Luigi Ricci | 9 February 1830 | Rome, Teatro di Tordinona | |
| Il corsaro | melodramma romantico | 3 acts | Giovanni Pacini | 15 January 1831 | Rome, Teatro Apollo | |
| Il nuovo Figaro | melodramma giocoso | 2 acts | Luigi Ricci | 15 February 1832 | Parma, Nuovo Teatro Ducale | |
| Il furioso all'isola di San Domingo | melodramma | 2 acts | Gaetano Donizetti | 2 January 1833 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| Torquato Tasso | melodramma | 3 acts | Gaetano Donizetti | 9 September 1833 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| Il Cid | melodramma serio | 2 acts | Luigi Savj | 22 January 1834 | Parma, Nuovo Teatro Ducale | |
| I due incogniti | melodramma semiserio | | Francesco Bornacini | 5 February 1834 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| Eran due or son tre | melodramma buffo | 2 acts | Luigi Ricci | 10 May 1834 | Venice, Teatro San Benedetto | |
| La casa disabitata | melodramma giocoso | 2 acts | Lauro Rossi | 16 August 1834 | Milan, Teatro alla Scala | |
| Chi dura vince | melodramma eroicomico | 2 acts | Luigi Ricci | 26 December 1834 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| La pazza per amore | melodramma semiserio | 2 acts | Pietro Antonio Coppola | 14 February 1835 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| Il colonnello | melodramma giocoso | 2 acts | Luigi Ricci and Federico Ricci | 14 March 1835 | Naples, Teatro del Fondo | |
| Monsieur de Chalumeaux | melodramma comico | 2 acts | Federico Ricci | 14 June 1835 | Venice, Teatro San Benedetto | |
| Giulietta ossia La fanciulla abbandonata | melodramma | 2 acts | Pasquale Guglielmo | 1835 | | |
| Il disertore per amore | melodramma giocoso | 2 acts | Luigi Ricci and Federico Ricci | 13 February 1836 | Naples, Teatro del Fondo | |
| La festa della rosa | melodramma giocoso | 2 acts | Pietro Antonio Coppola | 29 June 1836 | Vienna, Theater am Kärntnertor | |
| Salvini e Adelson | melodramma semiserio | 2 acts | Luigi Savi | 1839 | | |
| Il sogno punitore | melodramma | 3 acts | Giuseppe Gerli | 1839 | | |
| Furio Camillo | melodramma tragico | 3 acts | Giovanni Pacini | 26 December 1839 | Rome, Teatro Apollo | |
| Contraddizione e puntiglio | melodramma giocoso | | Michele Simeoni | 1842 | | |
| Paolo e Virginia | melodramma semiserio | 3 acts | Mario Aspa | 29 April 1843 | Rome, Teatro Metastasio | As Gli isolani: Davide Dugnani, 1857 |
| Il folletto | melodramma giocoso | 2 acts | Pietro Antonio Coppola | 18 June 1843 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| Il puntiglioso | | | Antonio Brancaccio | 1846 | | |
| Gismonda di Mendrisio | tragedia lirica | 3 acts | Luigi Badia | 10 February 1846 | Bologna, Teatro Comunale | |
| La figlia di Figaro | melodramma giocoso | 3 acts | Lauro Rossi | 17 April 1846 | Vienna, Theater am Kärntnertor | |
| Il cavaliere di San Giorgio, ossia Il mulatto | melodramma semiserio | 2 acts | Giuseppe Lillo | Autumn 1846 | Turin, Teatro Carignano | |
